Richard moved along the corridor till they arrived at the intersection which led to another part of the lab. They had to choose where to go.
He looked left and right wondering which way Priscilla had gone. "Let's split up."
The team broke into two but Pauline stuck close to Richard and both moved towards the left alongside three other officers—towards the lower floors. When they reached the lower floors Richard paused slightly confused. "I didn't know there was an underground part of the building."
Pauline shook her head to indicate that she too didn't know before today. The other soldiers glanced down not willing to meet his eyes. Richard ignored them and continued to move along. As they got down the staircase they heard sounds of gunshots.
"Over there!" Pauline gestured with her gun.
….
K1 pulled Priscilla out of the in-coming assault and they fell to the other side of the corridor. The soldiers moved towards them with guns aimed, still firing.
K10 moved aside as well trying hard to ignore the pains in his arm. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the soldiers got to them and finished them off. These guys had really high grade weapons!
They cocked their guns in one last effort and peeked out, shooting wildly. Priscilla helped as well. They shot without aiming since the soldiers were also firing back.
As the soldiers approached, the broken door of the lab opened slightly and bullets flew out in a raging storm. K3 was still in there!
The sudden gun fire took three soldiers to the underworld while the rest had their attention divided. K1 and K10 pulled out and released their own bullets. The sudden assault threw the soldiers off and each one of them was hit by bullets.
The rest—about eight—struggled to find safety while aiming to protect the last lab. That was obviously where the exoskeleton was kept. The eight aimed and shot despite being hard pressed.
"Shit!" K1 cursed deeply. "I'm out of amo."
"Here, take mine." K10 threw him his gun and drew another one. The shooting began without much break in between.
K3 shot out like a rocket while firing two guns at the remaining soldiers. One was sent tumbling down. The battered K3 rolled to a crouch and aimed again. The soldiers retaliated and a bullet hit the wall and ricocheted till it hit K3's arm.
He gasped but due to K1's and K10's cover fire, he wasn't at a disadvantage. One of the soldiers decided that he had had enough. He threw out a grenade and it rolled towards K3.
"I've missed this." The man smiled and hit the explosive to the side and jumped forward. The explosion rumbled through the corridor making the lights flicker even more. The seven soldiers peeked out again but right then, K3 was among them.
He grabbed the gun of one of the soldiers and turned it towards his companions and let him rattle away. He too used his gun to take down two of the other soldiers. He kicked the other one and he fell over but quickly rushed to his feet but a bullet wound appeared on his forehead.
K10 blew at his gun with joy. "Perfect score."
They looked at the seven soldiers who lay sprawled with blood spattered everywhere. K10 smiled and patted K3 on the shoulder. "That was a bad ass move there, man. No wonder you're respected in the group."
He shrugged. "Let's move."
They moved with quick pace towards the last lab. They entered and their eyes landed on the military exoskeleton suit. It was incomplete since it was still in the process of assembly.
K3 and the rest rushed forward and put down their bags. They began to carefully disassemble the suit which looked like a robot. They put pieces aside while K1 searched for the blueprint. He didn't have much luck till he looked down at the floor under the table. The scientists must have knocked it off while fleeing.
He picked it up and held it out to K3 saying, "It's the blueprint."
The latter nodded and he stuffed it into his bag. They pulled apart the exoskeleton and stuffed them into their bags. Priscilla timed her reaction and after she was sure the others were distracted she quickly took the power core of the exoskeleton. She stuffed it into her bag.
The others finished everything and then took the bags and prepared to leave but suddenly they heard footsteps outside. They looked out only to see Richard and his team!
"Shit!" K1 cursed. "It's your team leader!"
Priscilla thought for a bit then threw her bag to K3 and said, "Hit me then drag me out as your hostage!"
K1 gave a look before back handing her. Her head snapped and she scowled. K1 followed up by pulling her by the arm and dragging her out.
Richard froze when he saw that Priscilla was held at gun point. He raised his hand. "Don't shoot!"
"Good call, soldier," K1 said. "Let us through safely then we'll let her go by the exit."
Priscilla gasped in pain as K1 tightened his hold on her arm. He dragged her away and the others followed but they kept pointing their weapons at Richard and the others.
Richard didn't attack but he followed closely behind the intruders. His thoughts were a mess. The military base wasn't supposed to have an underground facility but it did. The facility seemed like a sort of secret lab.
Then he noticed that those people were carrying something in those bags. It took him only a little bit of thought to know what was taken. A weapon!
Richard wasn't in the mood to consider too many things so he followed the three men with caution till they reached the next corridor on the upper floor. They moved left, towards the eastern exit.
K3 pressed his earpiece and said. "Mission objective 1 completed. Ready for extraction."
"Copy that. Stand by for the chopper." K5's voice sounded.
"About time!" K11 groaned after hearing it on the ear piece. She had been waiting at the exit for over ten minutes!
The three soon arrived at the exit where they met up with K11. The chopper hovered above outside as it descended slowly.